Find the best client to access Usenet groups
We list the best Usenet clients, to make it simple and easy to find a client that suits you in order to connect to Usenet groups.
Usenet was effectively the internet’s first social media platform, where people came together in groups to discuss news, events, ideas and general issues. These were categorized into groups so you could easily find a group for the topic you were looking for, whether to discuss a specific comic book series, football club, celebrity, a hobby such as archery, or simply a broad music group.
The problem is that Usenet, as an open source and globally distributed content platform, isn’t easy to use. It is not web based, so you can’t simply access it from your browser — you require special software known as a Usenet client or newsreader to complete the set-up (read here on How to use Usenet).
For some techies, this complexity is a feature, not a bug, but for non-techies, accessing Usenet can seem too difficult. Over the years, Usenet aficionados developed newsreaders and created even more advanced clients called NZB readers to “simplify» the process of accessing Usenet groups.
The result is that if you want to access Usenet, you will need a newsreader client, a Usenet search engine, and a Usenet provider service. You will also probably require a subscription to a Usenet provider, who should be able o provide all of these tools in a single platform.
To help get the process started for you, we’ll list what we think are the best NZB and Usenet clients currently available.
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Easynews is our top choice for searching, finding and accessing Usenet posts. In fact, the service takes care of all three of these functions, which is unique as you would traditionally need a newsreader, Usenet indexer, and Usenet access — all typically separate services. Also, Easynews outperforms with its speed and search accuracy.
No extra software needed. Access Usenet through any web browser, including mobile devices, is a unique feature because Usenet access has historically been limited to desktops.
In our testing, Easynews gives the best Usenet search results with a built-in file thumbnail previewing feature to pinpoint the posts you are looking for. You can also apply a quick video, image, or audio file filter to narrow your search parameters.
For hard-core users, Easynews has the most customizable Advanced Search filters: quite a handy tool given the billions of files available on Usenet. You can specify file extension, audio codec, video codec, file size range and FPS range, among other filters.
Easynews owns and manages its own network and has redundant server farms worldwide which provide good speeds and excellent retention (the number of days Usenet posts are stored and available). More retention means your search results will generally be more accurate.
